


The Curse

by marvelouskatie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy curses like a sailor, F/M, Not Really Canon Compliant, Tumblr Prompt, jane loves science, loki is a little shit, thor is not an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:43:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6078111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelouskatie/pseuds/marvelouskatie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tasertricks prompt from ringsaroundpluto on tumblr: Darcy accidentally/unintentionally proposes to Loki the first time they meet and Loki accepts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Curse

Asgard wasn’t so bad. Sure, everyone dressed and talked like they were straight out of Medieval Times and there wasn’t any TV or wifi, which—to Darcy Lewis, child of the 21st century—sucked in the extreme.

But the weather was always beautiful. Every sunrise and sunset was a study in golds and oranges and purples. She wasn’t really an out of doors sort of girl, but the majesty of the land was too breathtaking not to experience up close. The food was really good, too. Darcy had been a little weary of eating weird Asgard animal meat, but was soon able to apply the “tastes like chicken” adage to space poultry.

Their visit was only supposed to last a few weeks, but Darcy decided to extend that time frame, mostly because she hated space travel. It made her feel weird and loopy and terrified. Jane was crazy for thinking it was fun.

Because Thor was usually preoccupied with helping to rule an entire realm and Jane was preoccupied with all the science to discover, Darcy eventually branched out on her own and decided to make some friends during her extended stay.

Of course, she became pals with Sif and the Warriors Three.

Sif was awesome. She taught Darcy some badass combat moves and even gave her a few sword-fighting lessons. In exchange, Darcy showed Sif her Taser, and explained just how to bring down the mightiest of enemies with just a flick of a switch.

Volstagg was a great drinking buddy, and told really great stories when he was soused. Darcy had to be careful of that Asgardian mead, however. Her Midgardian liver was in no shape to handle more than a glass. That shit was potent.

She didn’t spend a lot of time with Fandral, but when she did, the man was a shameless flirt. Darcy probably would have fallen for it, if she were into hunky blondes. Not to mention that he was a total obvious man-whore. She’d listened to him brag about maidens of realms near and far and had no desire to be a notch in that belt. She wasn’t one to slut shame, but she just wasn’t the hit-it-and-quit-it sort of girl.

One particular beautiful Asgard day, Fandral invited Darcy to come along with him for a horseback ride. She tried to decline, having no desire to mount an uncontrollable, unpredictable animal. She’d learned the hard way that riding a full-grown horse was very different from the pony rides she’d enjoyed at carnivals when she was little.

Somehow, Fandral talked her all the way to the stables, saddled his horse, and hoisted her up so that they were sharing the ride.

“This was all just a cheap shot to get me to cuddle up with you,” Darcy grumbled, shifting uncomfortably in the saddle, and wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Lady Darcy, I would never use such trickery against you,” he winked.

Fandral took her to see the sights of the forests. As they rode, Darcy asked him about their language. Though most Asgardians spoke what sounded to her ears like English, she’d heard a few speaking an unusual language, that sounded somewhere between Swedish and Icelandic.

Darcy was curious. She’d attached a language minor to her Poli-Sci degree back in college and had managed to learn a little bit of French, Spanish, and German. Of course, in true scholarly fashion, Darcy asked him to teach her the curse words first.

Fandral threw his head back and laughed, happy to oblige.

He gave her a run down of the basics words and Darcy attempted to match them up with their English equivalents. A few choice phrases went right over her head, having more of an Asgardian context and not really making sense in her native tongue.

“Okay, okay enough of the children’s swear words,” Darcy said. “What’s the worst curse you know? Like the absolutely worst thing you could ever say to anyone?”

He thought for a moment, pressing a finger against his bearded chin. A sly smile stretched across the blonde’s handsome face. “The absolute worst curse I can think of? Well…”

.

.

.

On one of the not so fun days in Asgard, Darcy and Jane were asked to attend the trial of Loki. Officially, they were there as ambassadors of Midgard, a relevant inclusion considering it was their planet he attacked and attempted to conquer. Unofficially, they were there to back up Thor. The big guy was taking it all pretty hard, balancing his complicated love for his brother, with his responsibilities as future king of Asgard, and protector of Earth.

Jane and Darcy accompanied Thor to one of the small outer rooms attached to the throne room, where Loki was being held to await the start of his trail. He stood silently, thanks to the electronic gag Tony had bestowed upon him before leaving Earth. Two guards flanked him and his hands were cuffed, resting just below his stomach.

“He looks pretty good for a guy who’s spent two months in prison,” Darcy muttered to Jane, eyeing the dark prince’s appearance. He was in the same black and green getup she’d seen him wearing on the news as he flew threw the air and battled The Avengers. The armor and tunic looked clean and crisp as it did before the Battle of New York. His inky hair was slicked back and his pale face almost glowing under the torch light.

“It’s an illusion, I bet,” Jane whispered back. “Loki can change his appearance with his magic.”

Darcy mouthed “oh,” nodding silently, and continued following along.

Frigga was there, as well, hovering near the wall, offering what support she could to both of her sons. It didn’t escape Darcy’s notice that the queen of Asgard donned a gown of green, her long sleeves embroidered with gold. She suspected the color choice was deliberate, a mix of those favored by both of her sons, though the dominant choice of green made Darcy wonder about the queen’s true loyalties.

Thor approached and waived his hand through the air, the device locking Loki’s jaw disappeared with the gesture. He nodded to the two guards and they fell back, but didn’t leave the room. Frigga came closer, caution in her eyes, as Loki worked his jaw back and forth, groaning in relief.

“I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be allowed to speak throughout these proceedings,” he crooned in a rough, unused voice.

“Nothing you can say will save you,” Thor replied. “But you’d do well to not make matters worse for yourself.”

Loki smirked. “Words are the only weapons I have left, brother mine,” he spat the endearment at Thor, betrayal weighing down each syllable. “I will wield them as deftly and efficiently as you your hammer.”

His eyes flicked back to Jane and then fell over Darcy. He made a cold study of her, raking his gaze over her, not in a checking her out sort of way, but a way that said he was cataloguing every detail of her appearance; making notes, making judgments.

She stood stiff, holding her head high, as he observed her.

“Two Midgardian females, brother? One wasn’t enough? Will you be taking on a whole harem?”

Jane surged forward and Thor held out an arm to stop her, shooting Loki a warning look as the tiny scientists glared daggers.

The shots were cheap and Darcy saw the satisfaction he gained from ruffling their feathers. It made her furious that he could stand there, in his grand illusion of superiority, and think he could have even a moment of victory over her or Jane or Thor.

“Listen here asshole,” Darcy stepped forward, around Thor and Jane, so that she was toe to toe with the trickster god. “Laugh it up while you can, but you’re going down.”

Loki cocked his head to the side, regarding her. “And who are you, that you presume you can speak to a prince of Asgard in such a manner?”

“Darcy Lewis, of Earth, and I will speak to you however I fucking please considering that you came to my planet and used us as your own personal power playground.”

He gave her the once over again, just as before, reevaluating whatever his original assessment of her. Only this time, there was definitely more of a pervy leer to his gaze. Cool blue eyes to stock of her curvy chest and wide hips. Again, she refused to flinch.

“Unrefined, dark hair, quick tongue. My brother certainly does have a type,” his eyes flicked briefly to Jane and back to her. “Perhaps you aren’t as fair as the first, but I’m sure you’ll do once he grows bored of her.”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed. She wanted to brush it all off, to not let him see that his stupid insults had no real effect, but that was pointless. He knew that he was under all their skins. Mostly, it was that damn devil’s smirk and arrogant attitude that made her want to uppercut him in the jaw.

Nope, she wasn’t about to let him have the last word.

“Oh go fuck yourself,” she spat, deciding to add a little Asgardian flare to her insult, thanks to Fandral’s lessons. “Verður þú binda líf þitt att mín.”

Frigga gasped behind Loki.

Thor shifted. “Darcy—“

Darcy blushed. Fandral had never told her exactly what the words meant, but she was guessing it was pretty bad, given everyone’s reaction to her statement. Even the guards in the room appeared flabbergasted.

She wasn’t paying attention at all, surveying the different expressions of horror and shock in the room, so Loki was easily able to move forward and grab her hand.

“Darcy Lewis,” Loki said, a certain tone to his voice. “I accept. Eg samþykki.”

A shiver crossed her body and she blinked at the strange taste of cinnamon in her mouth.

Chaos erupted.

Thor lunged for Darcy and tore her out of the way of Loki’s grasp. She stumbled into Jane, both women confused, as the two guards moved forward to seize Loki once more. The lock over his mouth appeared again and Thor was shouting.

“Take him away, back to the dungeons,” he ordered. “There will be no trail today.”

“What is going on?” Darcy questioned, her eyes darting from Jane to Thor. She caught Loki staring at her as the guard yanked him forward. Even though she couldn’t see his mouth, she knew he was smiling.

“What happened?” Jane asked, equally confused.

“Darcy,” Thor said rounding on her. He looked panicked and furious. “Have you ever spoken with Loki before this day? Was this your first meeting?”

“Umm, yeah, we’ve never talked before,” she replied. “You know that.”

Frigga moved toward her, her musical voice offering some measured sense of calm among the circumstances. “I don’t believe this was a manipulation, this coincidence is beyond even Loki’s gift for strategy.”

“Can someone please let us two Earthlings in on whatever just happened?” Darcy asked again, seriously starting to freak out.

“Lady Darcy,” Frigga addressed her directly. “Where did you learn the words you spoke?”

“Uhh—from Fandral,” she winced. “I’m really sorry. I asked him to teach me Asgardian curse words. I know it’s impolite, but that’s kind of me in a nutshell. I didn’t mean to offend you or anyone.”

She looked at Jane pleadingly and her friend offered an understanding smile. Darcy had a talent for sticking her foot in her mouth and most people who knew her long enough just let it slide. She wasn’t used to having to watch her mouth, because she usually didn’t care to.

“Fandral, you say?” Thor asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

Frigga looked up at Thor. “It seems that your cavalier friend has decided to play a trick on Lady Darcy, and now, it has resulted consequences most severe. I must inform your father of this news. He will not be pleased.”

Frigga swept from the room, leaving the three friends alone.

Thor’s crossed his arms, the movement doing seriously awesome things for his biceps, which Darcy would have normally appreciate, if she wasn’t so damn freaked out at the moment. “Did Fandral happen to tell you the meaning of the words he taught you?”

“No. I just asked for the worst curse in Asgardian and that’s the one his told me.”

“’Tis no surprise. Fandral would consider soul bonding the worst curse imaginable.”

“Hold on,” Jane gaped. “Did you say soul bonding?”

“What?” Darcy screeched. “Did I just fucking propose to Loki or something?”

“In a way,” Thor explained. “Asgardian language is not a conversational method of speaking, most words and phrases are powerful spells, like the one you recited to Loki.”

“That was a spell? But how can it even work? I don’t have magic.”

“Spoken magic does not require any power but emotion or feeling behind it. Even though you were speaking the words in hate, the spell was still empowered with the force of your emotion. However strong the feeling behind the words, determines the strength of the spell.”

“Shit,” Darcy bit her lip. “There was a lot of hate behind that.”

Jane shook her head. “I’m still missing something. Obviously, Darcy didn’t actually mean to propose to Loki. Why is there a delay on the trail?”

“The bonding spell joins their life forces together. When Loki took your hand and accepted, did you feel anything?”

“It felt sort of tingly,” Darcy admitted, remember the feeling that warmed her from the inside out and the spicy taste in her mouth.

“That feeling was the magic of the words, bonding you to him. The bonding spell flows in two ways,” Thor explained, locking his fingers together. “Traditionally, on Asgard, it is the male that requests the bond and the female who accepts, or pledges.”

“That seems a little sexist and backwards,” Darcy grumbled. Jane elbowed her arm to be quiet and Thor continued.

“The male offers to bond his life-force to his bride, so that if harm befalls her, he will feel it seven fold. He is to be her protector, therefore if he breaks his vow and she is lost, he will feel the punishment.”

“So, since I’m the male in this scenario, you’re saying that if something happens to Loki, I’ll feel it even worse?”

“Yes.”

“So if he’s tortured, I’ll feel the pain,” Thor nodded, “and if he dies then I’ll…”  
         “Yes.” Thor’s sad eyes weren’t making anything better.

“What about the other way around? If something happens to me will be feel it?”

“No,” Thor answered. “The bride is meant to be loyal and faithful to her protector. Therefore, the bond prohibits her from…well, from…being with…joining…laying…”

“Sexing up?” Darcy offered helpfully.

“Yes…with another man. If she willingly breaks her vow, then the bond is broken. She will die, but her husband will be released without harm.”

“Wow, really sexist. Not that I condone cheating or anything…but damn you Asgardians are really serious about monogamy.”

“Soul bonding is not a common practice. The bond is typically made upon a betrothal and sealed during the marriage rites. If it isn’t completed within a the span of thirty seven days, then the magic will be released.”

“Thirty seven days?”

“That’s the equivalent of a month on Asgard,” Jane supplied.

That meant that Loki had a stay of execution for the time being. Whatever torture or punishment he was to suffer, would be felt by Darcy, and she trusted that Thor would not let anything like that happen to her.

“Well, this doesn’t seem too bad,” Darcy shrugged her shoulders. “Thrity seven days, Loki is still in jail, and then he’ll get his trial and Papa Odin can dole out whatever punishment he sees fit.”

“Darcy,” Thor’s tone was gentle, but he spoke her name like he was to be the bearer of bad news. “You and Loki must remain close to one another throughout this time. Your energies are tied together. If you are separated for too long, you will both become gravely ill.”

“Okay…” This was getting worse by the second. Darcy was going to kick Fandral right in the balls for this. As far as she was concerned, it was his entire fault. “So, what are we talking about here? Like we have to live together? We have to be together every second? I mean it’s been about twenty minutes since he left the room and so far I’m feeling pretty good.”

“I’m not sure,” Thor admitted. “Most who soul bond are in love and don’t desire to be separated for long. It’s not necessary that they spend every waking moment in each other’s presence.”

“Maybe we could experiment,” Jane said, eyes glowing as she spoke her favorite word. “Maybe an hour a day with each other would be enough to carry you through? And if you start feeling sick, we can move it up to two or three or as needed.”

“An hour a day with Loki,” Darcy stated. “I suppose there are worse things. I can’t think of any right now, but I’m sure they exist.”

Darcy sighed and Jane gave her a supportive pat on the back. How did her life get so messed up so quickly? For the next month and some odd days, she was technically engaged to and bonded with universal enemy number one. A man she and everyone else in the nine realms loathed with a fiery passion.

Yeah, she was definitely going to be using a few of the moves Sif had taught her to kick Fandral’s ass.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is what my brain came up with, hopefully you guys enjoyed it :)
> 
> Note: I pulled words from a couple different languages to make a fake Asgardian language. So if you’re native speakers of either language and recognize that things don’t make sense, it’s because they don’t!
> 
> Thanks for reading/commenting!


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